Google is about to take a pretty significant step that will help keep user accounts more secure: it’s going to enroll people in two-factor authentication by default. Today the company wrote in a blog post that it will soon start enrolling customers in two-factor authentication (or “two-step verification,” as Google calls it) if their accounts are “appropriately configured.”
Once enabled, they’ll receive a prompt on their smartphone to verify that an attempted login with their Google account is legitimate. “Using their mobile device to sign in gives people a safer and more secure authentication experience than passwords alone,” said Google’s senior director of product management, Mark Risher. (On-phone alerts are more secure than SMS messages, which can be intercepted.)
This is an expansion of an authentication feature Google has had for a while. It might ask you to confirm your identity with an Android prompt or through the Smart Lock, Gmail or Google app on iPhone, as long as you’re signed into the same account. Tapping a prompt is certainly easier than having to punch in a code and Google says it’s more secure than other 2SV methods. Although this only works for Google accounts, it’s highly recommended to turn on two-factor authentication on every account that supports it.
Passwords aren’t entirely a thing of the past, though. In a blog post announcing the 2SV change, Google noted that it has a secure password manager for Chrome, Android and iOS that can autofill your login details on sites and apps. Google’s password manager isn’t necessarily the one we’d recommend, but it’s free, easy to use and far better than not having one at all.
Google advises customers to go through the company’s quick security checkup to ensure their settings and account protections are where they should be.
